This invention relates to bracket devices for holding elongated elements securely and compactly in their operational environment.
It has been a long recognized need in the area of assembling elongated control elements, for example, brake cables and the like, that they be securely and compactly mounted in their operational environment by a releasable bracket. Numerous arrangements of elements and bracket constructions have been proposed. Brackets for mounting elongated elements are customarily used in operating environments wherein they are required to endure millions of repetitive stresses. For example, brackets used in automotive applications to hold brake lines, brake cables and fuel lines are constantly subjected to engine and road travel induced by vibrations. Therefore, it is known that such brackets must be made of a strong material to provide a required rigidity and structural strength over a life of many years. However, such strong durable bracket materials do not compress and conform to the shape of the elongated element or elements to be held. To solve this conformity problem it has been the practice to precisely configure the holding space within the bracket to conform exactly to the shape of the elongated element or elements to be held. Such conformity is necessary because if the elongated element or elements are not tightly held they will vibrate within the bracket which results in noise and rubbing which produces wear that can damage and destroy the elongated element or elements being held especially those conveying liquids. While precisely configuring the bracket is one satisfactory way of holding the elongated elements such precise configuration results in the bracket being only usable for the specific control element that it was designed to hold. Whenever the shape or the number of elongated elements to be held is varied a new bracket is customarily designed and this increases the expense of the bracket members.
Therefore, in spite of extensive research and development in the field of brackets for holding elongated elements there exists a need for a bracket which is more universally adaptable and lower in cost to releasably hold elongated elements of different numbers and shapes secure against wear and noise producing vibration while providing a rugged assembly which can be quickly and easily installed by an assembler. Known brackets while addressing some of the encountered problems do not offer adequate solutions from the standpoint of being adaptable to a large number if not all operational applications.